Leung Ho Yin, Simon's Bio
Simon is a well respected full-time thoroughbred racing commentator specializing in overseas international racing. Bringing with him a wealth of racing knowledge, Simon is the host and race caller for the overseas simulcast programme since 2008/09 season. He is currently the presenter on several racing television programmes including ‘Racing Horizon’ and ‘Horse Racing – Results’.

Nakayama Racecourse – Track Analysis (Sprinters Stakes Day):

As a wickedly undulating course with its tight corners and short stretch runs, starters for the 1200m Sprinters Stakes and Katsuura Tokubetsu will, immediately after the break, roll downhill while bearing right for an extended 600m section over this clockwise Nakayama strip. Again, due to the sharpness of this first corner, outside-drawn runners will either be parked wide, or forced to be taken back and save ground. Coupled with an abbreviated stretch run, forwardly-placed horses that can snatch the rail early, or tracking two, three deep at most, certainly get a tactical advantage.

Then, with the competition descending all the way until another taxing up-hill run with about 250m to go, front-runners do have their work cut out for them. That being said, as the final corner is once again quite sharp just before turning for home, deep closers may as well have to launch their bid from out wide, or simply get stuck in traffic with nowhere to go. Also, with merely 300m from the top of the stretch to the finish, horses from off the pace need to start moving from mid-way through the turn, or they would leave themselves too much real estate to cover down the lane.

In all, a perfect 1200m turf trip at Nakayama would be some good early positioning from second through fifth – within striking distance – then ready to pounce in the final stages. Of one particular note, through the past ten editions of the Sprinters Stakes, the 2015 champion STRAIGHT GIRL was statistically the lone winner that could strike home first while breaking from barrier one through three. In the 2018 running of this G1 contest, when the turf was listed as good with quite some rain just before the race, FINE NEEDLE, taking the overland route early, wolfed down his competition with a strong rally from out wide to prevail just in time, whereas LOVE KAMPF and RHEIN SPIRIT, respectively two-deep and on the rail while hounding the early pace, hanged on to finish second and third.

For the rest of the undercard, the 1600m Saffron Sho on turf will travel through a 300m backstretch before tracing the precise 1200m trip towards the finish, and closers from out wide would again have a slight edge. Meanwhile, a 2000m contest of 3yo and up 1 win, will have a full 400m stretch to travel before hitting the first turn; coupled with the sedate early pace as in a route, even a bad post from way off the rail is still manageable. On to the dirt strip, the 1200m 3yo and up 1 win does have a similar 400m run on the backside before taking the only turn, which is a big plus for the front-runners; whereas the 1800m Nokogiriyama Tokubetsu on dirt, also carded for the 3yo and up 1 win, features a 300m drive for the runners through the homestretch for the first time before reaching the clubhouse turn, and with more tepid early fractions in two-turn routes, out-side drawn runners still stand a fighting chance.

With continuous precipitation that will tease Nakayama through Sunday, this year's running of the Sprinters Stakes Day would likely be contested over off goings; therefore, last-minute track conditions do pose significant bearings on final race selections.

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